Thursday, July 30, 2009

T.L. Hines Free Book Download for Uploading Photo

New social media photomosaic from author TL Hines lets readers win free digital downloads of his latest book Faces in the Fire for one week only: July 27-August 2. The most interesting tattoo photos—as well as the most interesting photos overall—will win unique action figures (Crazy Cat Lady, Bigfoot, Librarian, and more).

(Billings, Mont.) [PRWEB] Novelist TL Hines and publisher Thomas Nelson announces a new social media project to support the release of Hines's latest novel, FACES IN THE FIRE. The project, dubbed "Be a Face in the Fire," invites fans to submit images to become part of an online mosaic at http://www.tlhines.com. Every person who submits an image during the first week— July 27-August 2—will receive a free digital download of the novel which can be read on the user’s personal computer or digital reader device. Images submitted after the first week will still be eligible to win unique action figures given away at the end of the summer.

“Part of the fun of a new book for me," Hines says, "is finding interesting new ways to interact with readers. I've been a big fan of social media since launching my fiction career. So with a book named FACES IN THE FIRE, I thought, why not create a giant mosaic and invite people to submit their own faces?" Hines thinks the game prizes will convince social media fanatics to put their faces in the fire. "The free download, courtesy of my publisher, Thomas Nelson, is a great giveaway for social media users; these are the people who are reading books on Kindles and iPhones. Plus, 20 people will win the unique action figures."

The action figures, from quirky retailer Archie Mcphee, include a choice of an Obsessive Compulsive Action Figure, a Bigfoot Action Figure, a Jane Austen Action Figure, a Librarian Action Figure, a Moses Action Figure, or a Crazy Cat Lady Action Figure. Which begs the question: Why? "It's just fun" Hines says. "I don't want to do the same old giveaways everyone else does. And because I write strange stories, the Mcphee action figures are an ideal fit."

Five photos judged most interesting or unique will win, and in a special category, the five most interesting tattoo photos. "One of the main stories in the book is about a tattoo artist, so I'm especially interested in photos of tattoos," Hines says. Five winners will also be drawn at random from all photos submitted, as well as five winners from people who share the project through Facebook, Twitter, Delicious or other social media services.

Hines's new novel is a collection of four interconnected novellas, with the lives of the main characters crossing paths as they face strange circumstances. Ghosts trapped in the clothing of the dead. Miraculous cancer cures appearing in spam emails. Tattoos that come to life, revealing scenes of the future. And a mafia hit man whose touch can literally kill. Such quirky stories and characters have earned Hines comparisons to authors such as Dean Koontz—and readers who are surprised to find out Hines is published by Christian publisher Thomas Nelson. "Are my books Christian books?" Hines asks. "Sure; I think my worldview comes across. But Christian books aren’t all alike, and that's okay. There's room on the shelves for traditional genres such as Christian romance, Christian thrillers, Christian historical novels—and strange stuff like mine. It shows the Christian book market is growing and expanding, and that's good for all of us."

"Be a Face in the Fire" isn't Hines's first out-of-the-box effort to connect with fiction readers. Last year, he disassembled one complete copy of his novel THE UNSEEN and more than a hundred volunteers hid pages to be discovered in locations across the U.S. and Canada. To launch his first book in 2005, he invited people to sign up as Volunteer Book Publicists, and shared 10% of his first royalty statement with the 100 most active participants. For his second book, readers completing an online puzzle received a song written and recorded for the book by the band Pivitplex. Hines also names a character in each book after readers who sign up on his web site or Facebook fan page.

Such unique marketing tactics have earned coverage in trade publications such as Publishers Weekly and several online media outlets. "I do it because I'm trying to sell a few books, of course," he says. "But more than that, I do it because it's fun—I get to meet new people, discover new things. And that's what social media is all about."

ABOUT TL HINES
TL Hines writes "Noir Bizarre" stories, mixing mysteries with oddities in books such as WAKING LAZURUS, THE DEAD WHISPER ON, THE UNSEEN, and FACES IN THE FIRE. His work has won recognitions ranging from the Maryland Writers Association novel contest to Library Journal's "25 Best Genre Fiction Books of the Year" award.
Facebook: tlhines.com/facebook
Twitter: twitter.com/TLHines
Photomosaic: www.tlhines.com/fitf
Press materials for "Be a Face in the Fire": tlhines.com/faces

Read our review of Faces in the Fire.

Friday, July 17, 2009

Brandilyn Collins sells movie option for Dark Pursuit

This just in from Brandilyn Collins' blog:

I'm pleased to announce that a contract has been signed for the movie option of Dark Pursuit, my stand-alone novel released in the fall of 2008.

Maggie Field of Maggie Field Literary Consulting discovered Dark Pursuit while searching for new novels with film potential. She alerted producer Harry Gittes, who liked the book very much. Gittes has teamed up with screenwriter Chuck Pogue to purchase the option.

Before the contract was negotiated, Gittes and Pogue spent about an hour on the phone with me and my agent, Lee Hough of Alive Communications, talking about their vision for the film. It was a good conversation, and I appreciated the time they took to fill me in on their thoughts. After that conversation, all parties decided to proceed with negotiations.

If you're unfamiliar with the term "movie option," think of it as a rental of film rights for a book. For the specified time of the option, the purchasers tie up the film rights while they create a screenplay and see if they can gain interest in funding the film. If they do, the film rights are then bought outright. If not, when the option runs out the rights revert to the author, who can then option or sell the film rights to someone else.

Read our 1st review of Dark Pursuit
Read our 2nd review of Dark Pursuit
Read our interview with Brandilyn

Burn by Ted Dekker and Erin Healy coming Jan. 2010

Coming in January 2010 from Thomas Nelson is the second novel in the Dekker/Healy collaboration! They started with Kiss, and now they're bringing us Burn.

Here's a summary:

The past Janeal thought had burned away is rising from the ashes.

Years ago, the Gypsy Kumpania where Janeal Mikkado lived was attacked by outsiders. With her best friend about to be consumed by a fire, Janeal had two options: try to save her friend--at serious risk to her own life--or disappear with the million dollars that she had just discovered...

But the past is quickly come back to haunt her. Both her best friend and the boyfriend that she was sure were dead have reappeared in her life, as has someone who knows about the money. There's a debt to be paid for the money she found, but there's an even greated debt she must face--and if the chaff isn't burned from her own heart, it will consume her.

Read our interview with Erin Healy.
Read our interview with Ted Dekker.
Read our review of Kiss.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

2009 Christy Award Winners!

Thanks to the wonderful work of Jeanne and Tyson Wynn of Wynn-Wynn Media, the Christy Awards were announced live last night in Denver during a special Live Blog event. You can read the full transcript with lots of photos here.

Click here to read a list of the nominees.

The following are the proud recipients of the 2009 Christ Awards!


Contemporary Romance

Beyond The Night
by Marlo Schalesky
Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing

Read our interview with Marlo.









Contemporary Series

You Had Me At Goodbye
by Tracey Bateman
FaithWords

Read our review.
Read our 1st interview with Tracey.
Read our 2nd interview with Tracey.







Contemporary Standalone

Dogwood
by Chris Fabry
Tyndale House











First Novel

Blue Hole Back Home
by Joy Jordan-Lake
David C. Cook











Historical

Until We Reach Home
by Lynn Austin
Bethany House

Read our review.









Historical Romance

From A Distance
by Tamera Alexander
Bethany House

Read our review.









Suspense

The Rook
by Steven James
Revell

Read our review.








Visionary

Vanish
by Tom Pawlik
Tyndale House










Young Adult

I Have Seen Him in the Watchfires
by Cathy Gohlke
Moody Publishers

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Christy Award winners announced tonight!

Tonight the Christy Award winners will be announced! Our friends at Wynn-Wynn Media are covering it live via blogging. To catch all the fun tonight at 7:00 MDT, click here.

To read the list of nominees, check out our blog post here. Who are you rooting for?

The Christy Awards are all about honoring Christian novels and the novelists who write them. To learn more about the history of the awards, visit their website.

Friday, July 10, 2009

Coming in 2010 from B&H Fiction

Some great stuff coming from B&H next spring!

Rooms
by James L. Rubart

On a rainy spring day in Seattle, young software tycoon Micah Taylor receives a cryptic, twenty-five-year-old letter from a great uncle he never knew. It claims a home awaits him on the Oregon coast that will turn his world inside out. Suspecting a prank, Micah arrives at Cannon Beach to discover a stunning brand new nine-thousand square foot house. And after meeting Sarah Sabin at a nearby ice cream shop, he has two reasons to visit the beach every weekend.

When bizarre things start happening in the rooms of the home, Micah suspects they have some connection to his enigmatic new friend, Rick, the town mechanic. But Rick will only say the house is spiritual. This unnerves Micah because his faith slipped away like the tide years ago, and he wants to keep it that way. But as he slowly discovers, the home isn’t just spiritual, it’s a physical manifestation of his soul, which God uses to heal Micah’s darkest wounds and lead him into an astonishing new destiny.

Enemies Among Us
by Bob Hamer

Matt Hogan loves being an undercover FBI agent almost as much as he loves his wife, Caitlin. But when the daring—some would say reckless—G-Man totals two vehicles in his Beverly Hills pursuit of a fleeing Arab drug runner, he incurs the wrath of the Bureau’s hierarchy. To avoid almost-certain suspension, he accepts a new assignment to track terrorist cell groups while posing as a volunteer at World Angel Clinic, a Christian ministry reaching out to injured Third World children. What Matt doesn’t know is that the ripples of danger from this case will threaten not only his and Caitlin’s life and happiness, but also the safety and security of the entire nation.


Angel's Den
by Jamie Carie

In 1808, when Emma meets and marries Eric Montclaire (the famed “most handsome man west of the Appalachians”), this young daughter of prominent St. Louis citizens believes a fairy tale has just begun. Instead, her husband’s angelic looks quickly prove only to mask a monstrous soul all too capable of possessive emotions and physical abuse. Praying for mercy, she is devastated when Eric insists on her joining his yearlong group expedition to the Pacific Ocean, following the trail Lewis and Clark blazed just a few years earlier. By the time cartographer Luke Bowen realizes Emma’s plight, it’s too late to easily untangle what has become an epic web of lies, theft, murder, courtroom drama, and a deep longing for love. Only God can show them the way out.

Deliver us From Evil
by Robin Carroll

A beautiful yet tough woman working in a beautiful yet tough setting, Brannon Callahan is a search and rescue helicopter pilot for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Strong faith and a decorated history of service have kept her one step ahead of on-the-job dangers, but there’s no precedent for what’s about to happen. After a blizzard takes down a small plane carrying U.S. Marshal Roark Holland (already haunted by a recent tragedy), Brannon must save him in more ways than one and safeguard the donor heart he’s transporting to a government witness on the edge of death. Otherwise the largest child trafficking ring in history—with shocking links from Thailand to Tennessee—will slip further away into darkness along the Appalachian Trail.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

B&H Publishing Signs Tosca Lee

Nashville, Tenn., July 8, 2009 - Award-winning author Tosca Lee will release her highly-anticipated third novel in 2011 under the B&H Fiction Pure Enjoyment line. Written from the point of view of the most reviled man in Christendom--Judas--Tosca will again give readers a powerful and enlightening glimpse into the spiritual realm.

"We are thrilled to have Tosca writing for us," said Karen Ball, executive editor for fiction at B&H Publishing Group. "She's a true craftsman. Combine that with her remarkable ability to see inside those we most despise--a demon, Eve, and now Judas--and you get powerful stories of truth and grace that intrigue and challenge readers."

Her two previous books, Demon: A Memoir and Havah: The Story of Eve, created quite a stir in Christian fiction. Demon: A Memoir was a 2008 Christy Award Finalist, 2008 ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Silver Award Winner and 2008 ACFW Book of the Year, Speculative, Second Place. It earned rave reviews across the faith spectrum, including the distinction of, "The most creative, mind-twisting novel of this summer," from Infuzemag.com.

Havah, her sophomore novel, let readers inside the heart and mind of the world's first woman from her creation to Adam's death. Havah is a 2009 ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Bronze Award Winner and ChristianFictionReviews.com Top Pick for 2008. In a starred review, Publishers Weekly called it, "Passionate and riveting... Lee's superior storytelling will have readers weeping for all that Havah forfeited by a single damning choice." Historical Novels Review called it, "...a fascinating novel about human relationships at the dawn of time."
Lee-- Mrs. Nebraska-America 1996, Mrs. Nebraska-United States 1998 and first runner-up to Mrs. United States--has a deep passion for story. "I was a serious pianist from a young age, and used to practice an hour and a half every day. But when I was in the midst of a great book, I'd sneak it into the piano room and read a page between playing each piece-or as much as I could until my mom said, 'I'm not hearing any music!'"

Lee started writing after obtaining her degree in English and Literature from Smith College in Massachusetts. For more information regarding Tosca Lee, please visit www.toscalee.com. For more on upcoming titles in the B&H Fiction Pure Enjoyment line, log-on to www.pureenjoyment.com. Tosca's current titles are available at booksellers everywhere and on-line.

Read our interview with Tosca Lee.